Flyby

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈflaɪˌbaɪ/

Definitions

1. This term describes the trajectory of a spacecraft that passes near a celestial object, gathering information without landing
2. A maneuver involving a spacecraft that approaches a celestial body to collect data while not touching down is known by this term
3. A spacecraft's close approach to a planet or moon to obtain data without landing

Etymology: "Flyby" is a deverbal noun, meaning it was formed by taking the verb "fly by" and turning it into a noun. The verb itself is a plain combination of "fly" and the adverb "by," which has long meant "past" or "near," so a flyby is literally the act of flying past something. The sense has been pinned to spaceflight since the early decades of space exploration, when probes first swept past the Moon, Venus and Mars and sent back images and measurements without touching down. The word's usefulness comes from that simplicity. A flyby is a passage at close range rather than an orbit or a landing, and the noun names that single moment of approach and departure. Because the spacecraft never slows enough to stay, the term carries a sense of brief, one-time encounter that the longer words "orbiter" and "lander" do not.

Synonyms: pass, approach

Antonyms: landing, stay